After an accident in the line of duty, firefighter Roberto DeRosa’s life is turned upside down. His career fighting fires is over, and he’s left with an uncertain future and an injury that makes communicating difficult for him. The only time words flow easily is when they’re lyrics and he has a guitar in his hands. Talking to women is definitely out, especially if they have bright blue eyes that seem to see right into his soul.

Dani Hodge is on the brink of realizing her dream of opening a small combination wine and book store in San Diego’s funky Ocean Beach neighborhood. But before she can open the doors, there’s work to be done, more work than she can do herself.

When the tattooed guy who completely ignored her at a bar walks by and offers her a hand wrangling a tile saw, Dani can’t afford to say no—and why would she say no to Mr. Strong and Silent when his stare conveys more than words could?

I caught Trent’s attention at the bar, putting my back to the girl and focusing on getting my heart to slow down, letting my blood cool.

And just when I’d gotten control of myself again, she was right fucking next to me, and my mind went blank.

Or most parts of my mind, at least. The parts in charge of caveman stuff—the parts that screamed at me to pick her up, throw her over my shoulder, and find a wall to fuck her against—those parts were working fine. Unfortunately.

“Hi,” she said.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

I stared at her. I was blank. I reached for a word to give her and my mind was empty. Even the one word she’d said would have been fine. I could have parroted it back to her. But it had fluttered up into the noise and light inside the bar and evaporated. Even that one simple word was out of my reach.

I watched her expression change. She’d said “hi” like she was extending a bridge, a thin filament I might just be able to risk stepping onto. But as she waited for me to return her greeting, to say fucking anything at all, the bridge dissolved.

And her face closed up. The sparkle in her bright eyes faded, and her energy pulled back inside her, leaving me cold again. A mixture of fear and surprise replaced the glow on her face, and I felt both guilty and monstrous as I watched what it did to her. She let other words fall between us. Nonsense, really. I’d made her uncomfortable, unhappy. And I already knew she was a girl I never wanted to see unhappy.

Finally, she turned around and went back to her table, pulled the other girl toward the door, and disappeared into the night beyond. And the strange light that had filled the club was extinguished.

*****

Review:

Rob worked hard to recover from his injuries but after a while it seemed like he wasn’t going to get any better. He’s living half a life, unsure where he’s going to go from here, with just a few friends, his dog, and the peace that playing his guitar brings him. Then he meets her. While Rob is complicated and troubled, with a some issues that he definitely needs to address, Dani helps shake things up enough to help him get back to living.

Dani is drawn to Rob but her history hasn’t left her with a lot of faith in men. And this one is more complicated that most … I’m deeply amused by the fact that it isn’t the person with the brain trauma that has the most difficulty communicating 🙂 While it may take longer for Rob to come up with the words, and his accident has left him with some self-esteem issues, when he needs to get things across he does. Dani on the other hand does a WHOLE lot of assuming – about Rob, about her family, about herself. She’s absolutely terrible about actually asking what is going on instead of jumping to conclusions. And she’d be a whole lot better off if she started because she causes so many of their issues.

Rob and Dani definitely don’t have an easy go of it. Between her romantic history and his lack of confidence, they run into quite a few speed bumps along the way. But Rob isn’t one to give up easily – he wouldn’t have gotten as far as he has if he did – and with a little patience and help from their friends they eventually figure things out.

*****

Author Info:

Delancey Stewart writes contemporary romance from her home outside Washington D.C. In a house populated by two tiny pirates and one full-sized Marine aviator, inspiration for her heroes is never hard to find—though quiet time to write often is!

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I have received ARCs of books free from BookTrib.com to review but the majority of the stories are either bought by me or provided for free from the publisher. The opinions I share are my own and in no way are influenced by an author or publisher. There is no promise of a positive review by any party and there is no additional compensation. Unless otherwise noted, I am not affliated with any contest or other event mentioned on this blog and I do not receive a paid endorsement for any posts.